You were elected into government by the people, “for the people” yes I said for the people.

You were elected on the assumption and conditions that you would be working on our behalf for what we needed, so please bear that in mind while I continue.

During your time in office hospital waiting lists for surgery have lengthened, out patientappointment waiting times have lengthened, hospital A&E departments have become intolerable, the amount of patients on hospital trollies in A&E departments have grown to some of the highest numbers I can remember.

In fact you have, in your time in office managed to worsen our healthcare system and put hospital staff under such pressure that they simply cannot cope.

We’ve had the cervical smear scandal that has effected my family directly.

We’ve had the breast check scandal.

We’ve had HSE care home scandals.

Iv read many an article about children with disabilities unable to get wheelchairs from the HSE and these young children are then unable to socialize with others.

Indeed my own daughter had to fight hard for most of the year to get a €50 part for HSE equipment for her daughter ( my grand daughter ) in order that her spine and hips would develop correctly after she was born with a disability.

We’ve had a woman walk the length of Ireland to beg you for medical cannabis to stop her child having life threatening seizures.

During times when the people have tried to communicate with you about these issues, “you have failed miserably” by neglecting to listen intently and act promptly to Their needs and concerns.

Indeed I’m sure you will claim praise for the success of the abortion referendum outcome but let me tell you, the outcome would have been the same with or without you, much like the same sex marriage referendum, ireland was more than ready to prove that we were no longer an Ireland of followers, we have become an Ireland of leaders. These days the people of Ireland actually speak out.

As minister Varadkar said to the Pope on his recent visit, Ireland today is a very different Ireland than it used to be.

Now Minister Harris I am a Diabetes Advocate and I have Type 1 Diabetes.

I am struggling daily to understand why you would actively engage in age discrimination against myself and my fellow adult colleagues with type 1 diabetes by eliminating us from reimbursement of the FreeStyle Libre, which would improve our diabetes management.

We even amassed over 19,000 signatures on a petition calling for you to include adults in the Libre reimbursement and stop age discrimination.

That was in May 2018 when we went to Leinster House to present our petition to you but you were nowhere to be seen.

You couldn’t even give us a few moments. Yet you are supposed to be working for us, the people. Many other ministers had the manors to meet us and talk to us that day, they alsoSigned the petition that Frank O Rourke and Mary Butler received from us to present to you on our behalf.

To this day you have not taken the time to receive it from them. That is the level of NO respect you have shown us.

You see, the fact is that better diabetes management aided by the technology available to do this ( like the Libre ) helps prevent and avoid diabetes complications that in the future would cost this country millions of € to treat in hospitals all over the country.

In Kildare for example, footcare for anyone, even if they have diabetes and foot problems will only get an appointment from the HSE if they are over 64 years of age.

The good news here would be that by 64 we may not need foot care.

The bad news is that the foot or feet could be amputated by that stage.

We would no longer need footcare however we will need, a lengthy stay in hospital, rehabilitation, mobility aids, home adjustments, and eventually a prosthesis or two, all at a huge cost to the HSE for each patient, But the good news is you’l have saved a little money by not providing foot care.

For those of sound mind this makes no sense what so ever. An intelligent person would know prevention of diabetic complications would cost less than treating them.

Minister Harris I have to tell you that if I had a seat in government I would table a vote of no confidence in you at the earliest convenience.

You need to listen to your people. You are supposed to be Minister for Health allowing us to stay healthy, not the Minister for ill-health.

You are only where you are because of people who voted for you. You work for us but I think you may have forgotten this.

Yours Sincerely,

Davina Lyon

Co-Founder of Diabetes T One & A Diabetes Life

*IMPORTANT INFORMATION*

For those who think diabetes is caused by an unhealthy lifestyle let me clarify a couple of things.

I have type 1 diabetes. It’s an autoimmune disease. Nothing I did, or didn’t do caused it and nothing I do will cure it. There’s is currently no cure for Type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 Diabetes happens because our own antibodies attack and destroy an organ in the body. it’s an autoimmune response where antibodies that normally fight disease mistake a part of our body

(the pancreas in this case) as foreign and attack to destroy it.

When those antibodies attack the insulin-producing islets in the pancreas we stop producing insulin so we need to inject or pump it.

Without insulin a person with type 1 diabetes would die. At present it is not known what causes this to happen, and there is no cure.

A person with Type 1 diabetes MUST inject or pump insulin to stay alive.

There are many factors that contribute to a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes so pre judgment of a lifestyle choice is unfair at very least.

A person with Type 2 diabetes, while still producing their own insulin for various reasons their body cannot use it correctly or efficiently.

These people are generally treated with oral medications and sometimes with insulin injections.